Apple Buys Particle, A Small HTML5 Web Development Company From San Francisco

Apple rarely buys other companies, so when the Cupertino giant makes an acquisition, it’s worth noting. CNET is reporting that Apple has recently purchased Particle, a small creative consulting company based in San Francisco that specializes in HTML5 development. Particle is a relatively small firm, but it has done some big projects for companies like Google, Sony and even Apple.

What does the acquisition mean? While the reason behind the deal remains unknown, Apple likely wants the web talent from Particle.

According to CNET:

The deal went through late last month, though not all its less than a dozen employees stayed on to work at Apple. Those who did are listed as “creative technologists” as well as one “user interface engineer,” according to their public LinkedIn profiles.

Several of Particle’s employees previously worked with Yahoo as part of its user experience design group. Founder and chief technology officer Aubry Anderson also consulted for Apple between 2006 and 2008, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Particle’s own mission statement is particularly interesting:

HTML5 and the WebKit rendering engine already drive the web experience on devices like the iPhone, iPad, and Android, but are increasingly becoming the lowest common denomination on the desktop web in next generation browsers like Google’s Chrome, and Apple’s Safari. Particle has chosen to focus on this technology so intensely because we believe it will soon be the rendering engine that powers a new universe of light weight and embedded applications from set top boxes to game consoles to Chrome OS and Android devices to portable telephony and media devices of all kinds.

Apple manages iCloud.com, its iAd network, and of course Apple.com. It will be interesting to see how Apple’s web presence grows and improves after this acquisition.

Apple’s most recent purchase was AuthenTec, a security software company that specialized in fingerprint scanning technology.